On Monday my Lovely Wife and I decided to go out on a Church Outing on Tuesday to the City of San…read moreAngelo "International Waterlily Collection". We met up at our Church and boarded the Church Bus. It didn't take very long to get there because you can go just about anywhere in San Angelo in 10 minutes - and that's what we did. The "International Waterlily Collection" is a pretty nice Park where Waterlily's cover Seven Ponds consisting of 300,000 gallons of water - which also has a bunch of little fish in each pond keeping the mosquitos and bugs away from you. Thank-You-Fishies. We had a guided tour and the information provided was more than enough to fill your head. Ya Gotta See This for Yourself - it's Amazing and Beautiful.

It was November when we went. This is the biggest water lily collection in San Angelo. If you like…read morelilies then come see this place. It's free.

What a gem! We booked a room at the Inn as we were seeing one of our favorite artists that was…read moreplaying that night. So very glad we did! The vibes here are the best! Part of the "compound" are little art shops, the rooms at the Inn are artfully decorated. We stayed in the Santa Fe room and loved it! Comfy bed, nice bathroom, outside sitting area in front and back of the room . There is a well stocked kitchen area open for a late night snack or a bite in the morning to start the day! The music shows are outside and their is free food before the show, that's something you don't get elsewhere! I can't say enough about this place. We will be back!

What a cool little place that is hidden in San Angelo. Wonderful pieces of art on sale. You can…read moremeet, and talk to the artisans. They're very friendly people, very willing to answer questions you have, San Angelo is lucky to have a place like this

I wish YELP had a catagory for Sights to See or Local Attractions. I travel a lot and try to find…read morelocal flavor, or "what sets one town apart from any other." When I first went to Meridian, Mississippi I found they had the fantastic Dentzel Carousel, and beautifully painted life-sized carousel horses which were scattered around town as a fundraising venture for "Hope Village" for children. Tracking down the carousel horses made for a fantastic adventure. This adventure started a trend for me. Now I look for this same type of art project in all of the towns I travel to. Here in Abilene there are numerous outdoor Sculptures scattered all over town. I found quite a few, but I'm sure I missed a lot of them. I've posted some of these photos here. There is also a Fantastic Rock Sculpture at the University and the ruins of an old abandoned Fort (Fort Phantom Hill) to explore nearby. Besides the outdoor art, my dad loved visiting the "12th Armored Division Memorial Museum" & we both enjoyed "Frontier Texas". You can learn more about the area by checking out http://abilenecac.org/index.htm - - - So far I have found a lot of unique things in my travels. In Texas : Abilene - Iron Sculptures Amarillo - Quarter Horses Austin - Guitars Corpus Christi - Dolphins Odessa - Rabbits Wichita Falls - Mustangs - - - In Mississippi : Madison - Carousel Horses Hattiesburg - Swans Biloxi - tree sculptures - - - In Oklahoma: Shawnee - Painted Indian Ponies - - - * The next time I travel through Colorado I plan to look for the Painted Piano's scattered around Fort Collins.

Stopped buy the Abilene Chamber of Commerce to pick up welcome packets, it was the first time I had…read morewent their location to do so, as you enter the building you see the elevator, push the button for number 2 . When the doors open there it it!! Nice friendly people. Was only able to get a couple packs. I need to save some money and join the Chamber.

To quote the Texas Highways dot com website: "A stop at this…read morehistorical marker that's as close as the public can get to the exact geographic center will make anyone appreciate the majesty of the Lone Star State. It's important to note that the marker was not placed at the exact center of the state. That's 5 miles northwest on private property, the marker points out. So, if you visit the marker, you'll also want to drive about a quarter of a mile south and pull into the Heart of Texas Park, complete with a few picnic tables and a small observation tower you can climb to see the true center amid the rolling hills, oak and mesquite trees, round hay bales, and cattle." Make sure you also visit the picnic area known as the Heart of Texas Park. There is an observation tower so you can see 360 degrees above the tree tops. The stairs have 18 steps. The picnic tables are in shelters. Enjoy!

Kind of out of the blue one day, my partner in crime said he wanted to go to the Geographic Center…read moreof Texas. I'll admit I was half listening and responded, "Oh yeah?" Of course this was a segway into telling me how he read about it on a couple of different websites, how it wasn't too far away from us, and how we could probably incorporate it into one of our weekend drives. We decided to go for it one particular weekend and missed the GCoT. The GCoT is about 135 miles N/NW of San Antonio and we found out later we were off by about 10-12 miles to the east on 190 vs staying on 377 but we didn't know that since cellular service doesn't exist in this area (at least it didn't for our service). And Waze was almost useless in this area especially since the address on there lists Rochelle which is on 190. My partner in crime even loaded his offline Google maps on his phone but we still couldn't get straight as to where we were at in reference to the marker. We finally 86'd our mission and decided to try again another time. After getting our butts kicked the first time, we went overboard and super prepared for the next trip. Btw, can you super prepare? Maybe I meant over prepare. At any rate, we finally found it the second time! It almost felt as though we were back in our geocaching days. At a certain point after we left the city limits of Brady, we saw cell service drop off but we kept pushing and after a moment we finally saw the marker! We did pass by it at first and noticed the Heart of Texas Park not too far from the marker. We decided we'd stop there once we got our pics of the marker. And yes, my partner in crime was satisfied. I, on the other hand, was half smiling through sweat as the temperature gauge read it was 114 degrees. After we left, my proud partner in crime said, "We did it. I'm glad we stuck with it this time." "Yep. Me too." "Now I want to go to the Geographic Center of the US." I think I slowly died inside after that.

This historic fort doesn't have a visitor center, it's fully self-guided using the pamphlet that's…read morelocated under the covered area connected to the bathrooms. I didn't know what this place would be like, I just know that we like stopping places on long road trips and walking around historic sites is always fun, and I was actually pretty impressed with how easy it was to guide ourselves around Fort Phantom Hill. A lot of the buildings have been lost, mostly due to the fire that the last commanding officer of the fort set on his way out (a wild story that's in the pamphlet!), but a lot of the stone foundations remain and it was cool to walk around and see them. The paths aren't paved, so in warmer times of the year make sure you watch out for snakes, but it's a great place for a quick 30 minute walk around to learn a little history, see some cool ruins, and stretch your legs before you have to get back in the car. It's not far off the highway, and doesn't take long to walk the whole loop!

there were some signs in the front and map. the old buildings were cool but not accessible to look…read moreinside of them.

Wonderful library with people so willing to help you. I have several ebooks checked out at all timesread more

I am all for public service. I truly adore reading and support the idea of promoting reading…read morethrough a system of points assigned per books/words written. However, it saddens me to have to only assign 3 stars to this location. First and foremost, i do realize most younger readers prefer sitting on floors to read anyways, but it would help if there were more chairs and tables available. Secondly, the accessibility to working computer stations is limited to. The choice of books is tailored around the space allotted. But, a good swapping system allows a book to be delivered if available at any other location within Abilene public libraries. I may sound a bit harsh, but if your goal is to attract younger readers, the path is still long, perilous and hard to follow. But i am confident in your abilities to improve and draw every single reader (young or otherwise). After all, words are what makes the worls go round and round.

Abilene's storybook initiative is one of the coolest things I've seen in a small town of its size…read more The Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden, free and open year-round, was one of my favorite things to see in Abilene. The garden wraps around the Abilene Convention Center and features beautifully maintained sculptures of both classic and modern storybook characters, including Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Three Little Pigs, Stuart Little, and Charlotte and Wilbur from Charlotte's Web, among others. I loved how next to each sculpture is a page or the cover from the actual book, which helps you connect the character to the story. Some of the sculptures also had author bios about the storybook's writer, which is a nice detail. There are great opportunities for photos, such as sitting in the boat with Stuart Little or running away from the three bears with Goldilocks, which my girlfriend and I took advantage of. The park also has a lot of string lights for nighttime and is open all hours of the day to enjoy. If you're ever passing through Abilene while on I-20, I highly recommend making a pit stop to check out all these statues. They're still adding more each year, and the new Clear Fork Bank Storybook Garden on the opposite side of the Abilene Convention Center already features two sculptures with plenty of room for more. RIYL: Being the only adult without kids looking at statues

this is a neat little park with a nice walking path and a bunch of different statues.read more

Once a small Texas frontier settlement, Abilene is a modern, thriving city where the past is…read morecelebrated and remembered in unique museums such as Frontier Texas! and the Grace Museum. Abilene Zoo has more than 1,000 animals, including some lions and tigers and bears (oh my) The 19th century Fort Phantom Hill is part of the Texas Forts Trail, connecting various West Texas frontier landmarks. 12th armored division memorial museum Located in the town of Buffalo Gap, Texas, the Taylor County History Center, previously known as the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, is a living museum that tells the nostalgic story of the last half century of the West Texas wild frontier. Located about half an hour from Abilene State Park, the Morgan Jones Planetarium is one of the very few planetariums in Texas. The National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature is an unusual museum that focuses on illustrations in literature. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There's plenty to keep you and your guest busy.

The lady at the front desk was condescending, rude, and extremely unhelpful. I hope the city looks…read moreinto finding a course on customer service and maybe some sensitivity training. Cultural competency for this city would be wonderful.